Loose-leaf album.



,027".v Patented lune` I0, i902.

R. F. UBERTEUFFER.

LOOSE LEAF ALBUM.

(Application led Oct. 21, 1901.)

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'Nv- 702,027. VPzmmed June lo, |902.

R.VF. DBERTEUFFER'. Loose LEAF ALBUM.

(Application md oct. 21, 1901,)

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' RoBERr'F. OBERTEUFFER, on PHILADELPHIA, PNNSYLVANIA, AssiGNoR` UNITED "STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TO GEORGE S, LARE, WILLIAM H. ISBISTER, AND LENA D. HOLMAN AND SAID WILLIAM H. ISBISTER, EXECUTORgS-OF WILLIAM A. HOLMAN, DE- OEASED, OONSTITUTING THE FIRM .ORCOPARTNERSHIPOF A. J. HOL- MAN & COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

LOOSE-.LEAF ALBUM.

SPECIFICATION forming past of Letters Patent No.y 702,027, dated June 1o, 1902. Application flied october 21, 1901. saisi No. 79,336. un abano T all whom may concorre.' Y

Be it known that'I, ROBERT F. OBERTEUF- FER., a citizen of theUnitedStates,l residing` combination witha box element essentially flattofadapt it to rest on a table and recta'nat Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, havel invented acertain new and useful'Loose-Leaf Album, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exact description,xreference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification. Y v

` My invention relates to album and book supports. It is designed yto support and inclose the book when not in use and to support the leaves at a suitable incline for examination when the book is open and adapted to provide an ornamental case or box for a-pack of album-leaves which may be disconnected or which may be bound together bythe usual flexible hinge connection between the leaves lzo andit has for its further object to so construct the ornamental case or box with its cover that when in closed position, with a book or pack of album-leaves in place therein, the whole will present the generalappearance of an ordinary ornamental album andA will, in fact, bean album-book from which the book proper orJ any separable leaf'thereof may` be inserted or removed at pleasure.

So far as I am aware no album or combined album and stand has ever been heretofore made in which the album-leaves may beloose and not bound together nor attachedby an inner cover or otherwise to -the stand, nor any such in which all the parts when assembled and in closed position willbe a compact and unitary device presenting the appearance and possessing all the advantages, with others in addition thereto, of an ordinary album in a suitable examining-stand, and my invention broadly covers that `principle of book-stand construction as its basic principle.

My invention, .whilelimited'to' a device in which the book element isv without any usual outside cover or binding-case, is not limited in .respect to the bookelement to a pack of disconnected album-leaves, but: comprises a bookelement in which the leaves in the pack v ordinary textile hinges commonly employed to unite the leaves.

Totheseends my invention consists of the corners of the box-base and preferably at each of the four corn ers thereof, arranged between the upper surface of the box-base and the inner surface of the cover and operating as well to support the front edge of said cover at a` suitabledistance from the box-base, and a pack of album-'leaves adapted to rest within said upright leaf-guides and between the spaced box-base and cover; also, insuch a device when the box-base is given some depth by being ymade hollow and provided with a movable cover, the latter forminga base-support for thepack of leaves or book; also, in some details of Y construction hereinafter described.

- In "the accompanying drawings, nillustrating my invention, Figure 1 is an elevation in perspective of my new device vviththe parts in closed position; Fig. 2, a like view with the lid or cover raised and somegof the loose leaves removed. Fig. -3 is a vertical section through Fig. l ona line to the A,side ofthe locking-clasp, the ,device being in closed poconsists of a substantially latbody A of a d rectangular shape in planular outline, which preferablyrests upon supporting-,knobs a,

and for the purpose hereinafter mentioned may, when desired, be hollowedout, as at b,

and be provided with a flexibly-hinged or removable lid c. 4Vertical angle-shaped cornerpieces d are provided at each of the four corners between the box-base A and the cover, hereinafter described. Those at the front edge operate not only as leaf-guides, but as cover-supports. Those in the rear are not indispensable for either purpose, but are desirable aids for both purposes. They are secured between the four corners of the boxbase A and the cover and are shown in the drawings as permanently fast to the box-base, and that form of fastening is preferable, and, indeed, essential, if the leaves in the pack of album-leaves are, as shown in the drawings, loose leaves wholly disconnected `from each other. These vertically arranged angleshaped corners d are so arranged, as shown, to bring the angle thereof facing outwardly in the same vertical plane with the rectangular corner of the box-base. They operate to guide the pack of leaves D to a true position on the box-base and maintain the same thereon without at same time preventing the loose leaves being raised one at a time, and equally so if the leaves in the pack be united by the usual fiexible textile hinge common as the first step in bookbinding; but in the latter event the rear corner-guides are cut down to about the thickness of the lower leaf. The other function of said vertical angleshaped corner-pieces is to serve as supporting and spacing means for the lid or cover B when the device is in closed position, as shown in Fig. l, though the rear cornerguides merely aid the hinge, hereinafter mentioned, to that end. The lid or cover B is preferably wholly disconnected from the boxbase, save through the medium of a pivotallymounted link-arm fon each side of the boxbase. Said arm f, which operates as a pivoted link, is accordingly so connected at f' to the rear corner-guide d, (see Figs. 2 and 3,) though it may be so connected to the box-base directly, and it is rigidly connected at its other end by a flange extension f2 to the upper edge of the lid or cover. (See Fig. l.) Hence (see Fig. 2) the back edge of the cover when raised and thrown back drops to and rests upon the rear upright side of the boxbase and occupies a rearwardly-inclined position, as shown in Fig. 2, most suitable for resting the album-leaves against for examination when they are raised one by one from the pack.

When the device is in closed position, the two rearward corner-pieces d coact with said linkf in supporting thecover at its rear edge, and the two forward corner-pieces d wholly support the coverat its front oropeningedge. The pack of leaves, loose or flexibly bound, is dropped into place on the box-base within the an gle corner-pieces d and are as easily removed therefrom when desired one by one or as a whole. A clasp, such as indicated at g, may be supplied, if desired, to hold the device in closed position, and the hollowing out of the box-base, as at l), with the hinge-cover c to provide a base-rest for the pack of leaves (see Figs. 3 and 4) supplies a most convenient receptacle for containing loose pictures or any other analogous use in devices of this character. )Vhen the device is in closed position, as seen in Fig. l, the edges of the bookleaves are plainly visible, and the effect as a whole in appearance is very much that of an ordinary album, and my novel device presents the additional advantage that the user may renew the flexibly-bound pack of leaves or, if loose, any single leaf or number of leaves at pleasure.

Having thus described my invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination, constitutingan album and its stand, of a pack of book-leaves, a boxbase substantially flat and rectangular in planular outline, a cover pivotally mounted thereon, pivoted links therefor adapted to support the cover at a distance above the boxbase when the device is closed and to swing back the cover and support it in avertie-al or upright position when the device is opened, and vertically-disposed angle shaped leafguides secured to said box-base at each of the front corners thereof, adapted to guide the pack of leaves to, and maintain them in place on the box-base, and operating also to support the hinged cover at its front edge in spaced relation to the box-base.

2. The combination with a substantially fiat box-base, rectangular in planular outline, of a hinged lid or cover having near its rearward edge two opposite downwardly extending and inclined arms pivotally united to the box-base and operating as a hinge connection therewith as well as asupporting means for the rear edge of said cover; and vertically-disposed angle-shaped leaf-guides and coversupports arranged between said box-base and cover at each of the four corners thereof.

3. The combination with a box-base substantially flat, rectangular in planular outline and hollowed out, of a movable cover for said hollowed-out portion, a cover or lid for the box-base with hinges connecting the same, consisting of links adapted to support the cover at a distance above the box-base and to swing it back to, and support it in, an upright position, vertically disposed angleshaped guides and supports secured to the corners of the box-base, and a pack of albumleaves adapted to be maintained within the leaf-guides while free to be raised leaf by leaf and thrown back against the inclined hinged cover or lid.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature this 12th day of October, A. D. 1901.

ROBERT F. OBERTEUFFER. lVitnesses:

ANDREW V. GROUPE, II. E. BATTERSBY.

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